iPod Accessories: I bought my iPod, now what?

You get home with your first shiny new iPod and excitedly take it out of its packaging and get it working. You're excited for the first few days, but then you begin to wonder, what should I save for now?

There are a wide variety of accessories that can be bought to complement your iPod, and, while few people would need to own them all, many of these are very useful.

New ways of hearing

The iPod comes with standard headphones, but aside from these there are a number of items you can buy to improve your experience. Firstly, a number of companies offer headphones designed particularly for the iPod and some of these are much better quality then the standard headphones.

However, the audio accessories don't stop there. If you want to hear your iPod over speakers, rather than headphones, you can buy yourself an iPod dock, which allows for easy connection to a home stereo system, or you could even buy the iPod hi-fi, an amplified loudspeaker.

There's a world of ways to experience the iPod sound.

iPod in your car

Some people like to listen to their iPod in their car, and while many new cars come with iPod connectivity built in, most of us aren't lucky enough to own such a car yet. To solve our problem comes the iTrip. This device allows your iPod to transmit the music along radio waves and therefore to be picked up by your car radio, meaning you can listen to your iPod in your car after all.

If this sounds a little too high tech for you then you can use your iPod in your car by buying a suitable cassette adaptor, or later kits that allow you to hook up your iPod through your cars cd player.

Audiovisual accessories

A number of audiovisual accessories can be bought for your iPod, including a kit that allows you to connect it to your television and make use of your televisions screen and speakers, and a camera connector that allows photos to be transferred directly from some cameras.

Protection, fashion and the end of the line

Probably one of the most popular accessories for the iPod is simply cases to hold the player. These protect the device, but also can make your iPod look much nicer.

So when you wonder what to do with your spending money, remember, there's more to iPod than just the player.

Several accessories for the different iPod models are available online. Some ornaments truly throw in an ultra hip look, some accessories just simply enhance the service of your iPods. Period.